Café Main Street (previously Café Hope and Café Hope Walker) is located on Main Street. It was formerly a Post Office, shop and café but following a fire in January 2011 which killed proprietor Viv Hope as well as Terry Woods, Viv's widow Bob Hope decided to just re-open the building as a café. The café is currently owned by Nicola King and Lewis Barton.
History[]
2011-2014: Fire at the Post Office and Launch of Café Main Street[]
In January 2011, the Post Office and shop owned by Viv Hope was set alight after Nick Henshall, suffering from hero syndrome, set fire to Victoria Cottage, the home of his girlfriend Katie Sugden. The fire traveled down the maisonettes and to the shop. Terry Woods and Viv's husband Bob Hope went in to save Viv and their twins, Heath and Cathy. Bob rescued the twins but as the firefighters prepared to save Viv and Terry, the shop exploded, killing both Viv and Terry.[1] Following the fire, Bob decided to just re-open the building as a café.
2015-2019: Bob and Val's fraud and financial struggles[]
In 2015, Bob took some money out of his and Brenda's joint account to help daughter Carly Hope with her new shop, Hope for the Best. When her shop was flooded, Carly then took £2000 out the cafe till which was for Brenda's late daughter Gennie's playground memorial. Bob took some more money out of a pay-day loan and replaced it when Brenda started to become suspicious. After a few weeks, Brenda found out and called the police. Bob and Val Pollard, who had posed as Brenda to get money for the shop, were questioned and then released. Carly had run off which made Bob useless. And after Val died in August, Bob was in even more trouble as Val couldn't stick up for him. But when he found himself in a fight with Finn Barton, Bob was arrested on breach of his bail conditions.
Harriet Finch had agreed to help Brenda track down Carly, and visited Bob in prison. In the visiting room, Harriet saw a criminal that she had locked up and needed to give evidence against, so warned Bob to stay away. Bob then informed her that he was Bob's cellmate. He later beat Bob up in the prison showers and Bob ended up in hospital.
On 18th August 2016, Bob prepared the Cafe for a mothers and children group, hoping that it could become a regular event.[2] The opening, however, was derailed when Belle Dingle burst into the Cafe where, triggered by the sight of infants and tormented by the voice in her head, she suffered a mental breakdown which caused a disturbance.[3]
In August 2018, as the café struggled financially, Bob suggested he stopped working there and only collected the profits from his share when there were any, although Bob would eventually return to working at the café in the coming years.
2020 to present: Dan Spencer's allergic reaction and under new ownership[]
In March 2020, Brenda accidentally caused Dan Spencer to suffer a severe allergic reaction when serving him one of her sandwiches, unaware it contained almonds which he is deadly allergic too. After Dan is left wheelchair-bound, he eventually threatens Brenda with legal action which the cafe owner couldn't afford. In July, Nicola King seized the opportunity presented by Brenda's misfortune and offered to invest £20,000 in exchange for a 20% share which Brenda and Bob were forced to accept to stay afloat.
In April 2025, As Nicola browsed through a magazine, she noticed that Brenda had won two tickets for a three-month cruise around the world in a competition she had entered before her and Eric's honeymoon. Brenda called about the competition and was told the company had been emailing her for weeks about her win. She was unsure about going now that she and Eric were no longer together. Although Brenda insisted to Nicola that she was unlikely to take the cruise, Nicola phoned the company pretending to be Brenda and asked for the tickets to be arranged in the names of Nicola and Jimmy King. However, her plan was put on hold when the company requested Brenda’s personal details to prepare the tickets.
Nicola told Jimmy to get ready, announcing that they would be leaving for a three-month cruise around the world the following week. She explained that she was trying to convince Brenda to hand over the tickets. Jimmy expressed concern about dropping everything to go away and revealed he believed Eric still had feelings for Brenda, suggesting they should back off from their plans. Nicola refused to listen.
Nicola became concerned when she saw Brenda and Eric getting along and manipulated Brenda into covering her shift so she couldn’t spend time with Eric. Nicola was disappointed when Brenda later informed her that she intended to go on the cruise alone. Nicola then tried to persuade Brenda to let her come along, but Brenda arranged to meet with her and explained she didn’t want Nicola to join her on the cruise, as she planned to invite Cathy instead.
In June 2025, Eric informed Kerry that he had received a birthday card from Brenda, along with a letter stating that she would not be returning to the village, having found a new lease of life.
In July 2025, Nicola was annoyed that Brenda had left all the hard work to her after buying Bob's shares in the café. As Nicola became increasingly busy, Bob suggested she give Lewis Barton a chance when he offered to help out. Soon Nicola grew increasingly frustrated with every failed attempt to contact Brenda and Bob later returned to the café with Lewis, announcing that, after a lengthy conversation, Brenda had agreed to sell the business to him, leaving Nicola speechless.
Lewis's brother Ross overheard Nicola on the phone urging Brenda not to sell her share to Lewis and upon learning that Nicola didn’t want him as a partner, Lewis considered setting up a rival coffee van outside. Eventually, Nicola agreed to work with him and following another call with Brenda, Lewis told Nicola he was on track to buy into the café, even admitting to Ross that he had been sitting on a high-interest savings pot. Soon after, Lewis proudly shows Nicola his new loyalty cards, explaining that he’s also in the process of developing an app to help drive up business at the café. Later, Lewis shares more good news with Ross the café contracts are now finalised, officially making Lewis a co-owner.
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